Air Canada smallest aircraft are getting a big glow-up. The carrier will refresh interiors on 25 of its De Havilland Dash 8-400 aircraft operated for Air Canada Express by Jazz Aviation. Some of these planes will also see inflight Wi-Fi installed as part of the effort.
This innovative project is an industry-first, and it reflects the pride we take in serving customers with care and class. By bringing many of the design details and comforts of our largest jets to the Canadian-made Dash 8-400, even our shortest flights can feel special.
– Mark Nasr, Executive Vice President & Chief Operations Officer at Air Canada
Air Canada promised Wi-Fi on the Q400s serving key business routes from Billy Bishop Airport in downtown Toronto last December. The first of those planes is currently being fitted with the necessary hardware and is expected to enter passenger service in October.
Read more: Starlink Officially Offerable on Dash 8-400 Props
The carrier plans to fit nine aircraft initially, allowing it to ensure service availability on flights from Billy Bishop to Ottawa and Montreal, plus a few spares. A decision on whether to fit the rest of the fleet remains pending.
A larger collection of the Q400 fleet will see new interiors installed. Those 25 planes will be updated to an Expliseat product featuring new branding via the dress cover. All seats will include a seatback multi-use device holder for tablets and phones, as well as a table tray.
The retrofit work is expected to complete by mid-2026.
The Wi-Fi installation has been pending for nearly a year, and Starlink has long been seen as the only viable product for those aircraft (as frequently reported by PaxEx.Aero). Even in today’s announcements, however, neither De Havilland nor Air Canada explicitly state that’s the hardware going on these planes.
It is, of course. But they’re not explicitly saying it. Notably, this is one of the only Starlink deployments that is not full fleet. Perhaps that’s part of the reason for a lack of explicit statements on the partnership.
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